System for draining land



.OSTERBERG w. AND M SYSTEM FOR DRAINING: [AND- APPLICATION FILED MAB.

Patented (M. 117, 1922.

INVENTORS Kim flsierbezg W Mauri ATTORNEY Patented Get. 1?, i922.

STATES Perrier VJILL-IAM os'rnnnnna AND MAUnIrs os'rnnnnne, or iiionnsro, oanironnra.

SYSTEll/i FOR DRAINING LAND.

Application filed March 1,

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, WILLIAM Osrnnmare and MAURITS Os'rnnnune, citizens of the United States, residing at Modesto, 1n the countv of Stanislaus, State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Systems for Draining Lands; and we do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the acconipanylng drawings, and to the characters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this application.

This invention relates to improyements in land-draining systems, the principal ob ject being to provide a system for thls purpose, which will drain the lower levels of land which tend to become and remain in a swampy and hence unutilizable condltion; and to prevent the oozing of the water to the surface in certain places, which water carries minerals and alkali with it and deposits them on the surface, rendering the ground unfit for cultivation, as is well known.

With the use of our improved system the above objectionable features are elnnlnated and once the system is installed and in operation, its operation becomes automatic, and the entire land area within its sphere of 1nfiuence will be maintained in excellent condition for cultivation.

A further object of the invention 1s to produce a simple and inexpensive system and yet one which will be exceedingly effective for the purposes for which it is designed.

These objects we accomplish by means of such structure and relative arrangement of parts as will fully appear by a perusal of the following specification ai'idclalms.

To illustrate the system and to enable its action to be understood, the accompanying drawings are presented, in which Fig. 1 represents a cross-sectional view of an area of land having certain distinct strata, showing the level of the surface-water after a drainage ditch has been cut, and Fig. 2 1s a similar view, showing the system after its completion and in operation.

Referring now more particularly to the characters of reference on the drawings, the numeral 1 denotes the upper or tillable stratum of the land, having low areas A below the natural or surface water-level line 2. Below this upper stratum will almost i11w-.:ria.bly be found a stratum 3 of hard 1922. Serial No. 540,142.

pan, clay or other substance more or less impervious to the seepage of water therethrough, or allowing it to do so but very slowly.

Underneath this hard stratum will always be found a layer of sand, gravel, or similar water-storage material, as at 4.

Now if the land is left in its natural and undisturbed condition, the artesian pressure in the lower stratum 4L causes the water therein to slowly percolate to the surface stratum 1,. carrying with it any minerals or alkali therein, and depositing these objectionable materials on the tillable land, rendering it unfit for cultivation.

Further, the upward pressure from below prevents the water standing on the surface from seeping down, thus maintaining swampy areas which can only dry out through evaporation.

lVith these conditions in mind, it is our purpose to allow the water from below to escape freely, thereby withdrawing from the land all alkali and other impurities in the water, and at the same time creating a vacuum area in the lower strata, to which the surface water drains very rapidly.

This we accomplish as follows: Through one of the low areas A we dig a ditch 5, of suitable width and depth, and having a lower level outlet, such as at the nearest creek or river. The cutting of the ditch will of course at once take care of and drain the area through which it is cut, resulting in the lowering of the water level 2 somewhat for a certain distance on each side of the ditch, the new water level for this dis tance taking the form of a slope, as shown by the dotted lines 6 in Fig. 1.

This ditch however is but one feature of our system, since while it serves to drain a limited area ofthe land, the presence of this ditch alone will not influence the distant low areas, which may be one-half mile or more away.

With the use of a ditch alone, the underground pressure is not appreciably relieved, and the surface water, draining to the ditch, must flow horizontally through the upper stratum 1, as shown by the arrows in Fig. l, which is a very slow precedure, and the action of this flow will therefore be only materially evident but a short distance on. each side of the ditch.

The distant low areas: may of course be drained by cutting additional ditches through each such one, but this is very objectionable; first, on account of the expense involved in cutting said ditches and second because the area available for cultivation ising their sphere of operation without turns placing in of stops being made.

Vi e avoid these objectionable features by boring down from the bottom of the ditch at intervals to the sand or gravel stratum 4, each bore the usual form of well casing 7. hen this is done, a suction pump is connected 'to each casing, and water and sand. drawn therefrom until a large cavity 8 is formed just below the hard pan 3, thereby forming a reservoir into which the underground water may easily drain.

The casing thus provides a free outlet for the underground water, and it will flow into the ditch much more rapidly than it could ever force its way to the surface through the various land strata and may be observed limbbling up "through the casing.

This water is forced up both on account of its natural upward pressure and by the downward pressure exerted thereon by the surface water from the upper level 2 beyond the sphere of influence of the ditch, and on account of therelatively large and free outlet now provided for its escape, the water from the lower level will be drawn or flow toward the cavity 8 from a wide area.

The pressure and water in the lower levels being thus continually and rapidly withdrawn, any surface Water standing is now free to percolate or seep down through the land strata into the lower stratum a and in turn flows to the cavity and is emptied into the ditch, this action also taking place over a wide area, so that thefsurface-water level is permanently lowered, as indicated at 9 in Fig.2, not only in the vicinity of the ditch, but as far as any other low areas within v a reasonable territory. This new level will beinaintained as long as the water in the ditch is allowed to freely escape.

The greater the amount of water placed on the land, either by rain or irrigation, the

greater will be the force with which the run derground water rises through the casing 7.

The cavity 8 is preferably provided by forming it in the manner stated, and may have to be similarly reformed at intervals, and while the system will work without its use, such quick results will not be obtained.

Having thus described our invention what we claimas new and useful and desire to se cured by Letters Patent, is

1. A system ror draining land having areas lower than thenatur'al surface water level and underlaid with hard pan consisting of cutting a ditch through. the low area, and sinking a bore from the ditch to reach the underground water level below the hard an.

2. A system for draining land having areas lower than the natural surface-water level and underlaid wlth hard pan consisting of cutting a ditch through the low area, providing means for maintaining it at a level less than that of the normal surface-water level, and sinking a bore from the ditch to reach the underground water level below the hard pan. I

A system for draining land having areas lower than the natural surface-water level and under-laid with hard pan consisting of cutting a ditch through the low area providing means for maintaining it at a level lessthan that of the normal surfaceivater level, sinking a bore to tap the water saturated stratum below the hard pan, and forming a reservoir for the water in said lower stratum and with which the bore communicates.

4. A system for draining land i having areas lower than the natural surface-water level, consisting of cutting a ditch through the land to a depth lower than said water level, and sinking a bore from the ditch to tap the underground water bearing strata.

5. A system for draining land having areas lower than the natural surface-water level, consisting of cutting a ditch through the land to a depth lower than said water level, and providing means for allowing the water in underground strata to freely drain into said ditch.

y In testimony whereof we affix our signatures.

' WILLIAM OSTER-BERG.

MAURITS OSTERBERG. 

